Uterine (womb) cancer - UK mortality statistics

Uterine cancer is the 9th most common cause of cancer death among women in the UK, accounting for more than 2% of all female deaths from cancer.

In 2010, there were 1,937 deaths from uterus cancer in the UK (Table 2.1). The crude mortality rate shows that there were around 6 uterine cancer deaths for every 100,000 females in the UK. Uterine cancers, parts unspecified made up around 25% of these deaths (Table 2.1).

European age-standardised mortality rates (AS rates) of uterine cancer are significantly higher in Scotland and Wales compared with England (Table 2.1).1-3

Table 2.1: Uterine Cancer (C54-C55), Number of Deaths, Crude and European Age-Standardised (AS) Mortality Rates per 100,000 Population, Females, UK, 2010

*95% LCL and 95% UCL are the 95% lower and upper confidence limits around the AS rate

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section updated 05/04/12

Uterine cancer mortality is strongly related to age. In the UK between 2008 and 2010, an average 77% of uterine cancer deaths were in people aged 65 years and over, while a third of deaths were in people aged over 80 (Figure 2.1).1-3 Age-specific mortality rates increase sharply from around age 40-44, reaching a peak at age 85 plus. There are very few deaths in women under the age of 50.

Figure 2.1 Uterine Cancer (C54-C55) Average Number of Deaths per Year and Age-Specific Mortality Rates per 100,000 Population, UK, 2008-2010

section updated 05/04/12

Uterine cancer mortality rates decreased by almost a third (32.3%) in the UK In the 25 year period from 1971-1973 to 1996-1998 falling from 4.7 to 3.2 per 100,000 people. However, in the eleven year period since then, the mortality rate of uterine cancers in the UK has risen by almost a fifth (17.9%) from 3.1 in 1997-1999 to 3.7 per 100,000 people in 2008-2010. (Figure 2.2).1-3 There are probably several reasons for the recent increase in uterine cancer mortality rates, but it is thought they include an increase in the risk such as more women being overweight or obese and women having fewer or no children.4

Figure 2.2 Uterine Cancer (C54-C55), European Age-Standardised Mortality Rates, UK, 1971-2010

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UK uterine cancer mortality rates have increased for almost all age groups in the last 10 years (Figure 2.3), with the largest rises in those aged 70-74 (data not shown). Between 1999-2001 and 2008-2010, European AS mortality rates rose by almost a third (32%) in people aged 70-74. The trend for women aged 85 plus is quite different from other ages. The rate of uterine cancer deaths was rising through the 1970s and early ‘80s before falling to the current rate by the mid 1990s.1-3

Figure 2.3 Uterine Cancer (C54-C55), European Age-Standardised Mortality Rates, Persons, By Age, UK, 1971-2010

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section updated 05/04/12

Body of the uterus cancer (C54) is the 20th most common cause of cancer death worldwide, estimated to be responsible for almost 74,000 deaths in 2008 (1% of the total). Body of the uterus mortality rates are lowest in Middle, Western and Northern Africa and highest in Central and Eastern Europe, with nearly 5-fold variation in World AS mortality rates between the regions of the world (Figure 2.4).5 The variation in mortality is far less than with incidence. This reflects the lower incidence rates in developing countries, and poorer survival.

Figure 2.4: Body of the Uterus Cancer (C54), World Age-Standardised Mortality Rates, World Regions, 2008 Estimates

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Within the 27 countries of the European Union (EU-27), the highest body of the uterus European AS mortality rates are in Malta (6.4 deaths per 100,000), and the lowest rates are in Luxembourg (1.1 deaths per 100,000) (Figure 2.5).6

UK body of the uterus mortality rates are estimated to be the 11th lowest in the EU-27 very similar to the EU-27 average.

Figure 2.5: Body of the Uterus Cancer (C54), European Age-Standardised Mortality Rates, EU-27 Countries, 2008 Estimates

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section updated 05/04/12